PUC approves $275M base rate increase for PPL Electric

Listen to this article

Around 1.5 million PPL Electric customers in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania can expect an increase in their bills. 

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted Thursday to approve a petition from the utility to increase its base rate. 

The approved settlement authorizes an increase of $275 million in annual base distribution revenues. 

The decision will result in a 3.23% increase to residential customer bills starting July 1. 

PPL Electric‘s original rate request sought an annual revenue increase of approximately $356.3 million. 

PPL said in a release that the increase will help support continued investment in a more reliable, resilient electric system while strengthening customer protections and affordability programs. 

“This decision reflects a thorough and rigorous review of the company’s request and past performance,” said Christine Martin, president of PPL Electric Utilities. “This strong outcome supports our commitment to deliver safe and reliable electric service to our customers. It enables us to continue making critical investments to strengthen reliability — helping reduce outages and operate more efficiently — while expanding protections and support for the customers and communities we serve.” 

She said PPL Electric will make targeted investments to enhance system performance and resilience, including replacing aging infrastructure, expanding vegetation management, advancing smart grid technology and improving customer service systems. 

Martin said the investments are critical as the company responds to more frequent and severe weather. 

PPL Electric has also established a new large-load customer rate class designed to support system growth while protecting existing customers.  

The new rate class includes binding long-term financial and usage commitments, including a minimum 10-year requirement for large users such as data  centers, which the utility said will help ensure infrastructure costs are paid by the large load customers and not inappropriately shifted to other customers. 

The rate increase will impact three different categories of electric customers. 

• Residential (1,000 kWh/month): $6.48 increase/month 

• Commercial (1,000 kWh / 3 kW): $4.08 increase/month 

• Industrial (150,000 kWh / 500 kW): $332.54 increase/month

As part of the decision, PPL Electric will not increase distribution base rates for at least two years following implementation.  

Martin noted that this is the company’s first base rate increase since 2016.